


What if. (You Never Knew, But Then I Told You, and You Were Pissed.)

by Mykea



Series: Poke-Crossed Lovers [16]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Ash will be pissed, Cassius meanwhile is laughing on the inside, Cassius really needs a hug, F/M, Flirting, Giovanni is fucked, I don't want to deal with Shauna, I'm sorry Siebold, Lysandre's going to get a verbal beatdown don't worry, M/M, Olympia is a boss, Poor Brian, RIP Siebold's Resturant, Siebold and Cassius are basically Sanji and Zoro here, Siebold has enough of your shit, Trans Giovanni, all of them need hugs, and he's gonna be in trouble, and really needs to get some sun, bonnie is a bamf, diantha and lysandre are cousins, even though his shoulder hurts like hell, he needs a hug, im sorry Cassius, lance and malva are cousins, mentions of mpreg, my boyfriend's back, not really - Freeform, ocs get names, so many characters - Freeform, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 08:14:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8005300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mykea/pseuds/Mykea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Team Rocket joined in on the Lumoise Invasion? What if Lysandre faked his death, ultimately revealing his plans to take over the world – only to have the XY Family and friends stop him in the end after Ash had won the Kalos League? Watch as Clemont, Bonnie, Serena, Shauna, Tireno, Trevor, Alain, Steven, Sina, Dexio, Diantha, Meyer, Professor Sycamore and others all ban together to stop the two evil team’s missions to take over the world. Tie-In to Black Diamonds, Sequel to Confessions, AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What if. (You Never Knew, But Then I Told You, and You Were Pissed.)

_How did it come to this?_ Thought Augustine as he ran through the streets of Lumiose City, running over giant tangled vines and dodging their attacks. Screaming men, women and children, all running in fear of being killed by these – _plant things_. He had no idea who started this, or what was going but he’d be dammed if he didn’t get to the bottom of it.

“Garchomp – use Hyper Beam!” Augustine cried out, and his Dragon roared obediently sending a blast through the air. Everything shook as the beam of light struck one of the Flare Grunt’s Pokémon, eventually shaking them off of Dexio. “Dexio – gods. Are you alright?”

“Florges, return!” Dexio recalled his Pokémon who was badly bruised. “Dad!” They hugged, and Garchomp nuzzled them both. “I was worried.”

“ _I_ was worried!” Tears fell down from Augustine’s face. He took in the fact his son was safe and he was holding him in his arms – but now wasn’t the time for tears. He had to fight, and find his other children. “Do you know where the others might be?” He wiped the tears from his face, and he saw Dexio do the same, nodding. “We need to hurry. Let’s go, Garchomp!”

She roared, flying after the duo as they rushed through the city, avoiding the wild jungle that was trying to kill them.

++

“Alain you moron!” Sina hissed as her swollen ankle burned with pain. She was currently being carried by her older brother, tears streaming down her face, nuzzling into his back. “Don’t do something like that again!” Referring to how Alain had used Charizard to slice through the vines, but they didn’t know they were going to come back right towards them.

Sina and Alain had gotten out without any major injuries, but Sina’s ankle got sprained. Alain sighed and smiled, letting his little sister cry it out; she was generally so brave and acted so mature. But this was different, nobody had seen this coming. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect the vines to literally come back at me and try to kill me.” He said in a hushed tone. “Stop being a baby.”

She hit his back and he ‘owed’ “I’m not a baby! You’re an idiot!” She nuzzled deeper as they paused. “I love you, Alain.” She said, her face muffled while she had been buried into his jacket. “I’m sorry you lost.” Alain blinked, then sighed.

“No problem. Ash deserved to win. He’s a lot stronger than I am anyway.”

Sina looked up, trying to see her brother’s face. “That’s not – “

“ _Alain_ -!” In the distance, there was Ash, and his Pikachu. The Ketchum boy had been with his friends. Serena, Clemont and Bonnie. They were all fine, and unharmed so it seemed. “Are you alright?!” They caught up, and Alain placed Sina down. “Sina…!”

“I’m fine, Mr. Champion.” She smiled, wiping her face. “Just a sprain.”

Clemont began digging through his bags. “Here lemme see if I have something for that.” Sina blinked… This boy – he was Meyer’s son. She smiled, then looked down at Bonnie who looked sad, and frustrated. “Here, this’ll sting a little.” Sina winced, holding onto Alain’s shoulder.   
  
“I’m fine. Thank you.” The potion worked like a charm, but she still needed to be carried.

“Squishy is gone!” Tears weld up in Bonnie’s eyes. “I can’t find him anywhere!” Alain and Sina were confused, then Bonnie turned. “I gottta find Squishy – “She turned, until Clemont caught her by the arm. “Leggo bro – leggo!”

“We can’t just let you go by yourself, Bonnie! It’s dangerous! One of us will go with you!” Bonnie looked at her brother in awe. “Besides, I need to take back the Lumiose Gym…” He sighed in frustration. There was an odd energy wave that came out of nowhere, and a piercing roar.

They all looked in the direction of the Lumiose Tower. Bonnie’s eyes went wide. “Squishy…?” They all looked too, Alain’s mouth went agape.

“Zy… Zygarde?” They all turned to him. “Something that Lysandre was researching before he…” Sina placed a hand on his shoulder, but he smacked it away. “Zygarde. Something we think is a Pokémon… But we’re not sure.”

“So – Squishy is – Zygrade?!” Ash and the others gasped. Bonnie placed her hands over her mouth.

“Squishy is in pain! I have to go! He’s calling for me!” And with that, Bonnie ran towards the Lumiose Tower. There was no stopping her, though Clemont sighed, he pressed his glasses forward and ran after her.

“Bonnie – wait!” Ash and Serena followed. “Come on guys!”

++

“No way,” Lance’s tone was hushed, his breath was hitched, he didn’t want to believe all of this was happening. But here it was, the destruction was taking place right before his eyes. To Team Rocket, and other organizations like it, it would be beautiful. But to the Elite Four Champion, it was horrific. He stood by his cousin as they watched the destruction of the city.

They were in a helicopter and fast approaching The Lumiose Tower. There, he’d see his ex-lover for the first time in ten years. He knew Giovanni had something to do with this. Lance had been researching Mega Evolution and the energy it gave off. When he found out a group called Team Flare had been doing the same thing, he rushed to Kalos, meeting up with his cousin Malva who was now a part of the Kalos’ Elite Four.

They went undercover together for months, giving intel to each other. Malva was a spy for Lance in regards to Team Flare’s research. When the leader of Team Flare faked his death (with the help of Malva, of course) he was taken to one of Lance’s safe houses in Kalos. There they talked about his continuing dreams for taking over Kalos. Only, _only if though_ – had Lance been quick enough to stop the ultimate outcome. He didn’t realize it’d be something like _this_.

He only got word recently that Team Rocket had been currently stationed in Kalos. A friend of a friend told him. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. He had no idea what the meetup with Giovanni would be like, after all these years. But, he knew it would not go over well; considering how their previous meeting went.

“The other members of The Elite Four are on their way.” Malva squeezed her cousins’ hand tighter. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a little shaken up. Is all.” He felt nauseous. Thinking of all the innocent lives that were at stake here. What was Giovanni doing right now? Probably sitting back and enjoying the chaos. That, or wreaking havoc amongst others. Or… Could he be out there- somehow stuck in it?

Why should he care? That was ten years ago. Thought Lance, scowling at the thought of the things they had before, now long gone. They broke it off, and it was finished. That was that. Totally done. He didn’t even bother to call, or leave a note. Giovanni’s feelings were obvious back then, so why should they have changed now?

“You’re thinking of him.” Malva smirked. Lance’s flush deepened a crimson scarlet. “Your making that face you usually do when your deep in thought.” She giggled. “I wonder…”

“Malva!” He spat. “Ugh. I don’t have time for this.” He threw a Pokeball and out came his trusty Dragonite. Malva’s eyes widened, then she sighed. “Come on Dragonite – let’s fly!” The Dragon flapped its wings and roared. “I’ll see you around.”

Malva winked at a still flushing Lance. “Good luck.”

Lance groaned, shaking his head. ‘ _She’s such a pain_!’

++

Giovanni scowled. Upon arriving in Kalos, this wasn’t what he had been expecting… _No_. Not at all. He hadn’t realized it at first, but two of his grunts had been able to get into Kalos, and given him information about a new organization called Team Flare. Team Flare, researching Mega Evolution and the energies that came with it. It was truly an interesting concept, but he didn’t have the equipment to continue said investigations. When Giovanni found out about the sudden death of Team Flare’s leader, Lysandre, he decided to look into things further.

Someone had to be pulling things from behind the scenes. He had no idea who that person was, and he didn’t have any guesses yet, but when he got to Kalos… He was stunned. It reminded him of his attempts of conquest over Unova. About a year ago, he ruefully remembers how he had lost himself in pure madness and power. He had been possessed, and let himself get away until his grunts snapped him out of it.

Shaking his head, he couldn’t help but think that there was someone out there actually considering destroying the world, like he had almost done. But – of course there were all sorts of people out there. Not all of them as smart as he was… He had made his mistakes, admittedly, but as the leader of Team Rocket, he usually made up for those with his intellect.

“Land here.” There was a clear enough landing, so he guessed there was only one way for them to move as there was nothing but smoke and chaos even as they flew. Besides, he wanted to look around and investigate things further. His piolet asked him if he’d be alright alone, but he shrugged it off and said he’d be fine. Persian by his side, he walked by himself through the mad jungle.

He had no idea what he was doing, really. But all he knew was he had to get to the bottom of whoever was in charge of Team Flare.

“Pikachu – come on!”

“Ash – wait up!”

“Bonnie – wait!”

“You guys we have to save Squishy!”

“Hey – I’m carrying someone here!”

“Are you calling me fat?!”

There was yelling and children laughing. Laughter? At a time like this? Giovanni blinked. He saw the children running, a boy and his Pikachu, two other boys – one with blonde hair, one with raven hair and he was carrying a girl on his back. She was clearly injured, something wrong with her leg, the other two girls, the blonde and the burnet, similar to his own hair color were following them from behind.

“Hey – look there’s someone!”

“Pika Pi!” The Pikachu chirped joyously and stopped dead in its tracks. Persian meowed as they began sniffing each other. “Pikachu!” They spun around some, greeting each other the way Pokémon usually do. A simple hello sniff and then the two smiled. Persian didn’t come onto Pokemon that well so quickly. But Giovanni gave a soft smile to the children.

“Hey – are you okay?” Giovanni blinked. “The city’s really messed up. But we’re heading to the Lumiose Tower.” Lumiose Tower? Where were their parents?

“The gym’s that way – “

“Guy’s Squishy – “

“We’re going Bonnie just hold on!” The little girl stomped her feet in protest, who was this Squishy they kept talking about? There was another roar from the distance, something Giovanni had heard before. “There’s Zygarde again…’ The blonde whispered, looking up at the tower.

“Zygarde?”

“Squishy!” The girl’s cheeks puffed up. “We gotta go! He needs me!” The little girl tugged at the blonde haired boy’s arm. “Come on bro!” She ran – and the boy – the girl’s brother ran after her.

“Wait – can’t we rest!?”

“Clemont – Bonnie!” Ash reached out a hand. “Serena, you go after them. Hey, wait I know. Guy’s come on out!” A Talonflame and Noivern, two very powerful looking Pokémon came out with a large battle cry and flapped their wings, surprising both Giovanni and Persian. “Take these guys with you in case something happens.”

“Right – you’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be fine! Just go!” Serena let go of the boy’s arm and he sighed, shaking his head. “Are you guys okay?” He turned back to Giovanni, and the two children. The two children seemed tired. “Alain – I can carry Sina.”

“Hold on, where are your parents? Are you all by yourselves?” Giovanni started, Ash and Alain looked up at the stranger then back to each other.

“My mom’s in Kanto, sir. I’m a Pokémon trainer – I just won the Kalos League then all of this happened.” He looked back at his friend, supporting him and the girl. Giovanni’s mouth opened, surprised that this boy was the Kalos League Champion. “And uh… Alain?”

“My dad is Professor Augustine Sycamore. I was adopted…” He trailed off. “Sina and I are adopted siblings,” They sat down to catch their breaths, Giovanni sighed. “We were separated when all hell broke loose.”

“Well then, what kind of adult would I be if I left you two here?” They looked up. “Come now, when you all catch your breath I’ll help you through this jungle.”

Sina, Ash and Alain looked at each other, confused. Then shrugged.

++

Giovanni sighed. He didn’t expect to be carrying a child the whole way. But Alain and Ash had pretty powerful Pokémon. Ash’s Greninja had some sort of strange form; something he had never seen before in a Pokémon. Ash’s Pikachu was pretty strong too. And as reckless as the boy was, he was brave.

He reminded him of Lance.

Giovanni’s heart swelled as they reached further into the city. Pikachu’s ears perked up and looked up as it heard someone calling towards it. It cried, running towards the left alleyway. “Pika Pi!” The others turned, Alain’s eyes went wide.

“Dad!” Giovanni sighed. His job of playing babysitter was finally over, now he could get some peace.

“Alain – thank god! Sina!”

“Brother, sister!” How many kids did this guy have? Giovanni sat the girl down, and she hugged her father. “Dummy.”

“Jerk.” They smiled. The man, who was apparently known as Professor Sycamore smiled at Giovanni, and lent out a hand.

“Thank you – uh – “Giovanni shook the Professor’s hand.

“Giovanni Rocketto. No need to thank me.”

“Augustine Sycamore.”

Giovanni nodded, Ash turned to the Lumiose Tower. Fire burning in his eyes. “Squishy…” He murmured… “Something’s up. I can feel it. I don’t know what – but something big is going down.”

“Aside from all the shit that’s happening now?” Alain asked, Augustine glared. “Sorry.”

“No I mean – some sort of strange Aura.” Giovanni’s eyes went wide. This boy can sense Aura? “I usually don’t feel it unless something big is about to happen, or someone really strong is around.”

“You can sense Aura too?” The others turned, Ash included to Giovanni. “My family is a decedent from Aura-wielding masters. That’s very impressive Mr…”

“Ketchum. Ash Ketchum.” Giovanni’s eyes went wide. Where had he heard that name before? Ash let out a hand, but Giovanni still thought back to an old memory – about a girl named Delia Ketchum who lived in a little town called Pallet. But why was that important?

“What’s wrong?” Ash cocked his head to the side as Giovanni had yet to shake his head.

“Would your mother’s name be Delia perchance?” His lips were dry, and he felt nauseous. Ash’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded. He didn’t know what to say – the others just simply stared. Giovanni opened his mouth. But then closed it right away.

“Why do you know my mom?”

The answer wouldn’t come. He didn’t know what to say. That baby boy he left in Pallet Town all those years ago, he’d finally found him.

His son.

 _Ash_.

++

“Goddammit!” Siebold cursed, sending out his Pokémon to take care of the veins, though really the more he fought the more he was causing damage to his restaurant. “Goddammit where is everyone!?”

He only had water Pokémon at his disposal. As far as he was concerned, water made plants _grow_. And much to his chargin’ his efforts were doing little effect on the jungle that was currently occupying his storage room. “Use Ice Beam Starmie!” He cried out – but still the plants seemed to grow over the ice. His eyes went wide as he heard a roar, and saw a large glowing claw rip through the plants.

“Hey –!” Siebold bit his lip. Though, before he could say anything the walls started to shake and a hand reached out and grabbed him, the claws grabbed his Starmie, and they were both thrown out onto the streets before the building collapsed. “My restaurant!” Grabbing his head and falling to his knees, he didn’t even thank his savior as he was too busy crying over the fallen building.

“Stop being a baby. Help me with the civilians!” Drasna barked, usually calm and collective, she was now fierce and full of fire. “We need to find the others as well. I can’t get a hold of them. Team Flare blocked all terms of communications.”

Siebold looked up, curious. “All wireless access has been cut off?” He stood, balancing himself with Starmie. Drasna sighed. “Alright. Let’s split up, one of us is bound to find the others and then regroup later.”

Drasna nodded. Siebold headed towards The Lumiose Press. The vines were blocking off the entrance, and he could hear people shouting from the inside. “Barbaracle use Cross Chop!” He threw out a Pokeball and his Barbaracle appeared in a flash of light, readying itself it slashed the vines over and over until they faded.

“Noivern use Boomburst!” A cry from inside came – he didn’t realize it but vines were coming from behind him, and the Noivern’s Boomburst had stopped the vines from attacking him. He sighed, catching his breath.

“Thank you, Miss.” He smiled, the Noivern hovered beside its trainer. Both women were carrying cameras and both had Pokémon. The women which he realized were Alexa and Viola. Alexa, chief of staff of the Lumiose Press, and Viola. Santalune Gym’s Leader.

“No, thank you. Hey – your Siebold. The Water Gym Leader of the Elite Four. Right?” Her eyes widened. Siebold nodded. “If I wasn’t short on film I’d so get a picture.” He laughed.

“Sis, now isn’t the time! We gotta get out of here!” They all looked at each other, and nodded.

As they began running, Siebold smiled. “I’m looking for the other members of the Elite Four. They were supposed to meet up at my restaurant today… But looks like we have a change of plans.”

“Oh – I’d love to eat there someday! You know, if I could get an inside scoop for the Press.” Viola groaned. They came across another jumble of vines and Alexa called out her Noivern for another Boomburst, Siebold attempted to get Barbaracle to Cross Chop the vines once again. “I don’t know what’s going on… Why is the city like this?!”

None of them had any idea what was going on, or who had been causing the chaos… But when there was an outcry coming from the allies on Siebold’s right, he heard a familiar, hearty laugh, some cursing, and more laughing. Siebold groaned and headed in the direction of the noise, only to roll his eyes. ‘ _That son of a bitch_!’

“Well then it seems I win this round!” The steel-type member of the Kalos Elite Four, Wikstorm laughed, his hands on his hips and Klefki hovering beside him. When he heard a familiar stream of swear words he turned his head. “Ah Siebold – come to aide a Knight in need? Well never fear! I have come out victorious!”

Siebold stopped in his tracks. He saw the carnage that Wikstorm left, the three Flare Grunts groaning. “Let’s get out of here!” They all scurried to their feet – when Siebold clutched his fists. When they saw him, they stopped what they were doing, backing up. Wikstorm was right behind them, smiling all the while.

“No so fast, punks. Today, I was planning on having a real nice lunch between my asshole-friends. Then, before I knew it the whole city is overgrown with killer-vines from hell! And then – my restaurant gets fucking destroyed!” A vein popped out of Siebold’s head. Viola and Alexa stopped as they saw Siebold unleash his rage on the grunts. “I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY MORE OF THIS BULLSHIT!”

Both of the men knocked the three grunts out cold. Though it was mostly Siebold and his Savat, flailing his legs around Wikstorm didn’t have to put up much of a fight. They tossed the three evil-doers in a pile. Siebold sighed and took out a cigarette. “I really need this. Fuck, what a day.”

“Smoking’s bad for you, squirt.”

Siebold rolled his eyes, ignoring the remark and lit his cigarette, puffing out a stream of smoke he then tucked his hands back into his pockets. It was going to be rough. Surviving – whatever the hell this was. He just was having a fantastic day so far. “So, where’s Vampire Boy?”

Cassius, Wikstorm’s boyfriend – or Vampire, Paleface, Gengar, Emotastic, _I-Really-Need-To-Get-Some-Sun_ … Currently wasn’t clinging to the Knight’s hip at the moment. Which, Siebold didn’t know to be happy or disturbed at. Given the circumstances, not that he was worried for the freak, he just needed to know where everyone was… For reasons.

“He’s currently trying to gain access to Lumiose Tower.”

Siebold blinked, then cocked his head to the side. “Why?”

“To see if he can get the city back online, and deliver a message.”

 _Message_? _What message_? “Now – come fair maidens! Klefki and I will guide you through the city! Fear not! Adventure awaits! We must welcome danger!” Wikstorm laughed, Siebold groaned, the two women looked at each other and sighed.

“Yeah. He’s always like that. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe with me.” He flashed flirty eyes to Alexa, and she laughed. Viola groaned, grabbing her sister’s arm as she waved. Looking up at the sky, Siebold wondered about the others. Were they okay?

++

“Olympia – back me up! Take Meowstic!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Now go!”

Cassius huffed as he ran towards the Lumiose Tower. He was currently bleeding on his right shoulder, one of the Flare Grunts had shot him – _mother fucking bastards_! But he didn’t have time. He had to deliver the message that Malva had given him over the phone before he had gotten in Lumiose. He gritted his teeth and leaned up against the wall, panting.

“Bonnie – wait up!” His vision was hazy, but he saw three kids running in the direction of the tower. A blonde haired boy with a strange backpack on, a blonde haired girl with looked identical to the boy and a yellow purse and a Dedenne looking out of it – was it real? And another girl with honey-brown hair and a pink hat on.

“Hey – wait!” He cried, only catching the boy’s attention, damn, his shoulder hurt. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck the pain_! He stumbled forward, only to be caught by the kid. “You heading towards the tower?” He huffed, the kid nodded. “How come?”

“I’m the gym l- your shoulder’s bleeding!” The boy – _the gym leader_? Oh yeah, there was a boy named Clemont who was the Gym Leader of the Lumiose Tower. How could he forget? There just had been some absence for a while… “Here… I have something for that…” The two other kids sat down beside him.

“Are you okay mister?” The little girl – Bonnie? Gave him a concerned look, her Dedenne poked its head out of her pouch. He smiled, even though he was in a hell of a lot of pain, and wincing clearly.

“Yeah. This is just a scratch. Don’t worry kid. And the name’s Cassius.”

Clemont’s eyes narrowed as he picked up a potion bottle. “You’re the man who picked up after Bill, the one who runs the Storage System!” Yup that was him. He was surprised to be known by just some kids, but the two others didn’t know his name so… “I’m glad I got to meet you. Just uh, not like this.”

“Same here.” Cassius took off a part of his jacket, showing his shoulder and where he had gotten shot. Serena gasped. “Yeah. Okay. Maybe more than a scratch.”

“What happened?” Serena supported his back as he groaned.

“I got shot by one of those da- dang Team Flare Grunts.” Their eyes went wide. “I have important information they want.” They all darted looks towards each other. “I gotta deliver a message to the people of Lumiose, and the rest of Kalos. That’s why I need to establish a connection at the Tower. Once I get in, I’ll be fine and I can take it from there. Just the thing is – “

“The grunts took it over.” Clemont’s eyes narrowed. His hand was shaking. Then, he sighed. “Hold on, this’ll sting a little.” Cassius nodded, not really paying attention but when Clemont sprayed the potion onto his shoulder he threw his head back and bit his lip.

“Ah – mother – “Bonnie held her ears. “ _Cracker_. Sorry.” Clemont got out some bandages and wrapped them around Cassius’s shoulder, after he had done a quick, makeshift job of them, the Tech put his jacket back on. “Thanks. I lent my Meowstic to Olympia. I’ve still got my Porygon Z and my Rotom though, so it’ll be easy hacking into the Tower if they’ve changed anything.”

“Wait – Olympia’s here?” Serena asked, they began moving.

“Yeah. All the members of the Elite Four, and the Gym Leaders are here. There was a spy working for Team Flare who leaked out information, plus Olympia’s Future Sight predicted the worst possible outcome…” He shook his head. “Sorry Siebold.” Cassius laughed.

“Whose Siebold?” Bonnie looked, confused.

“He’s just a- ah never mind.” Why did he care about that loser? He was probably having a way better time than he was. Hell, he had gotten shot. But oh well, at least he was almost to the tower, anyway.

++

“Aromatisse, use Charge Beam!” Aria cried.

A light shot from the Fairy Pokemon’s beak and shot at the Flare Grunt’s Drapion. The Pokémon cried out, being pushed away though feet buried deep into the cement. It stilled for a moment, the grunt snarled – looking back at its partner, not too pleased with the results.

“Shake it off this instant!” He barked. “Now – use Poison Fang!”

The Pokémon bared its fangs and they glowed a bright purple, Drapion was a crafty, fast Pokémon when it wanted to be. And that attack didn’t seem to have much effect on it at all considering how much speed it was charging at the little Aromatisse. The Fairy’s eyes narrowed as the fangs went straight for it. And so did its trainers.

“Dodge it – “

And as it seemed too late, a cry from the distance and a shot of power hit Drapion before it sunk its fangs into Aromatisse’s neck. It was flung across the street and into the vines. The three looked towards the direction of the attack and saw a group of trainers. Aria smiled happy to be around familiars.

“Aria are you okay?” Aria blinked, and nodded. “I’m Shauna. I participated in the Master Class Tournament!” She clasped Aria’s hands together, eyes shining. “Thank goodness you’re alright!”

“Oh – that’s right! Your Serena’s friend!” Shauna nodded. She turned her head, noticing the Drapion had been returned to its Pokeball and the grunt had started to make its hasty retreat.

“Oh no you don’t – Ivysaur use vine whip!” Ivysuar extended its vines and caught the grunt. Shauna placed her hands on her hips as she approached the grunt, looking down at him, stern eyes and all. “Now, you’re going to answer our questions, and maybe, if I’m nice I’ll let you go!”

Aria turned to Shauna, who looked like she was ready to beat someone up. “I’ll never tell you anything – besides the plan’s already in motion!”

“What plan?” Aria looked cold, and stern. She wanted answers to.

“I’m not talking, especially to two little girls!” Shauna’s face turned sour at that, and she kicked the man right in the groin. “Ouch!” He cried, Ivysaur chirped. “You brat…!”

“Come on out, Delphox!” Delphox purred as it was called out of its Pokeball. “Delly, let’s see if we can get the nice man to answer our questions… Hmm? Can you be a dear and help us?” Delphox’s stick lit up, and the man’s eyes went wide.

“Are you crazy?!”

Shauna smiled. “No. We just want answers.” The two girls looked at each other, and nodded. “Are you going to give it to us or what?”

“F-Fine! The boss’s plans are world destruction!” Both of them looked at each other, then looked back. The grunt groaned. “Starting with Zygrade – none of us grunts know what it is. It’s top secret to guys like me. Honest! I swear I don’t know!”

There was a loud roar coming from the tower, which wasn’t that far away. All of them looked up, and Delphox’s ears twitched. Shauna pointed a finger. “Could it be that thing up there?”

… The cackling of flames, the smell of smoke and ash. The grunt looked onward at the tower, there was a moment of silence. “Z-Zygarde.” He looked on in horror. “I managed to read a few documents… But no way it’s something like that…”

“Is that… A Pokémon?” Aria gaped. “What is Team Flare hoping to accomplish by destroying the world?!” She hissed, the Flare Grunt looked back at them – Shauna jerked her head, shocked at the sudden burst of anger. “Nothing – nothing good could come from this!”

“Lysandre… I mean boss… Kept saying that he wanted to go on about creating a perfect world. Apart of me wanted to help him with that, but I didn’t think he wanted to destroy it!” The Grunt slammed his head back against the concrete. “Stupid! I trusted him!” The two girls looked at each other, and nodded.

“Alright Ivysaur, you can let him go.”

The man, who was lying on the ground, curled up in a fetal position, didn’t want to look at anyone. The Grunt was ashamed of the things he helped create. He was no longer Team Flare – no longer the man he was before he joined – then what was he?

“You know; you can help us stop this.” Aria bent down. The former grunt looked up. Aria held out a hand, smiling. “You have the power to change things, if you really wish them to happen.”

Smacking her hand away, the grunt raised his glasses, showing of his blue eyes now filled with tears. “How is anyone supposed to stop this?!”

“Ash will.” Shauna looked up at the tower. “I know he will.”

“You mean – that Ketchum boy?” Shauna nodded and smiled. “He already was crowned the Hero of Kalos before! He’ll do it again!” Shauna turned, punching a fist in the air. “But that doesn’t mean we can just sit by and do nothing and let Ash get all the glory. Especially when Serena showed me up in the Master Class Tournament!” The burnet huffed her cheeks, then she took a deep breath.

“We can be hero’s too! We just gotta try!” She threw both hands up in the air, and then turned back towards the tower. “Now come on Slowpokes! We gotta get back towards the others! We haven’t got all day!”

‘ _Just have to try_?’ The grunt blinked. Then turned to Aria.

“Well, are you coming?” Aria smiled, and held out a hand.

“Call me Brian.” As he was lift up from the ground, the grunt then steadied himself. “Brian Groskey.” Aria nodded as she and Brian started running towards the tower, they said nothing, only flashing smiles towards one another.

++

Sawyer, Tireno, and Trevor were battling some flare grunts. It wasn’t until Sawyer’s Slurpuff was defeated by a Grunt’s Houndoom did he realize he needed some help. “Slurpuff, return!” He bit his lip. This couldn’t be happening again! He lost to Ash – he wasn’t going to make a failure of himself when people needed him!

A vine rose up and tried to attack Sawyer from behind, immediately catching Sawyer off-guard and the grunts. Trevor sent out his Charizard and yelled out a Flamethrower immediately killing the shrubs. “Are you okay, Sawyer?” Both Tireno and Trevor had battled their best and lost, Tireno lost to him, and Trevor lost to Alain.

… Sawyer blinked. Now wasn’t the time to think about that! He reached for his Pokeball nestled safely on his belt. “Go – Sceptile!” The grass dragon wearing a scarf with its mega stone attached to it gave a loud battle cry, and bared its claws. “Mega Evolution!”

“Right on!” Tireno smiled.

“Right – Charizard Mega Evolution let’s go!” Sawyer pressed the button on his camera, and Charizard began to glow. Out came Charizard Y and Mega Sceptile. Both Dual Types, Dragons. They readied themselves for their trainers’ command and the grunts, four of them, who had a Houndoom, Gengar, Weavile, and Manectric were clearly the ones with the advantage here.

“Weavile use Night Slash – “

“– Houndoom use Flamethrower!”

“- Gengar use Shadow Ball!”

“Manectric use Thunderbolt!”

“Charizard dodge it then use Flamethrower on Weavile!” Trevor could only hope for the best, three against four. If they called out more Pokemon, maybe they’d have an Edge. With Tireno’s Blastoise they had a type advantage over that Houndoom.

“Sceptile use Leaf Blade on Gengar!” Charging up its blades the two Pokémon danced for a bit, until Sceptile sliced Gengar in the middle, sending it flying into a vine. Both Trevor and Sawyer looked at each other, nodding.

“Blastoise use Hydro Pump!” Without the use of dance moves, Tireno commanded his Blastoise to soak Houndoom. It was a one-hit-KO. The dog feinted, and was immediately recalled into its trainers Pokeball. “Yeah! And we did that without our routine!” He high-fived the giant turtle, and the boys cheered.

“Delphox use Flamethrower!”

“Ivysaur use Petal Dance!”

They all turned, the Pokémon who were still standing got a beat down between two different types. The trainer’s recalled their Pokémon. The boys were happy to see Shauna – and with the Kalos Queen! Tireno’s eyes went googly-eyed. “Shauna!” He held out a hand to both of them one knee on the ground. “I’m so glad your safe – and if it isn’t Ms. Aria the Kalos Queen! How are you this fine day?”

“ _Fine_ …?” Shauna’s brow twitched. Tireno looked over at the grunt, who was glaring at the others.

“What are you doing with the enemy!?” One barked. Brian backed away, Aria placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you really believe Lysandre’s wishes can achieve a beautiful world – through world destruction?!” The others backed off, Brian stepped forward, clenching his fists. “I too wanted a beautiful world. But… this is chaos! I didn’t want this! Look at yourselves! Look around you! This is madness!” Flailing his arms – he was ready to fight if necessary. But he didn’t want to, not anymore.

“Lysandre wanted to _recreate_ the world! That’s nonsensical! The man’s gone mad!” Brian looked at his feet, shaking. “Think about what you’re doing here – only we have the power as human beings to change things!”

“That was my line.” Aria giggled. Brian flashed her a look. “I’m proud of you.” The grunt flushed.

“So… This guy… Is going to destroy the world?!” Trevor panicked, looking back and forth between grunt members. Brian nodded. “How do we stop it?”

“I’m sure Ash and the others will find a way.” Shauna smiled. “But for now, we have to help as many people as we can.”

They all nodded. “So – what do you say?” Shauna stepped forward. “Do you want to help us? We could really use it.”

The grunts looked around, at each other, then back to the trainers. It was a moment of silence, the air was still full of ash, fire and a hint of doom had been chilling down all of their spines. The woman of the group finally took a step forward, taking off her glasses. “Fine by me. I like this world as is. There’s no need for it to be destroyed.”

The others smiled, and nodded.

“Greyson.” The one man with a yellow pin on his shirt and green eyes held out his hand, Brian shook his hand. His Pokémon was Gengar.

“Lilian.” The woman smiled, looking back to the two others who also had taken off their glasses as a sign of their truce; her Pokémon was Weavile.

“William, but call me Will.” He had brown eyes and a blue pin, his Pokémon was Houndoom.

“Dylan.” The man with yellow eyes and a black pin owned the Manectric.

So that was that, they had a new alliance. _Hopefully they could gain more Team Flare members_ … They had all turned to the Lumiose Tower, looking at the destruction that had been caused by Lysandre and the mythical Pokémon… Brian squeezed his hand into a fist, only thinking that if he had just done something sooner – alerted someone – then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

Aria held his hand, and smiled. “It’ll be okay.”

He sighed, then moved forward. It was the least he could do. For the world they were living in right now, to protect the people and Pokemon he cared about… For their future.


End file.
